me, right?”
“In theory.”
“Okay, in theory. I’ll go with that. Okay.” I took a deep breath and just went for it. “Mom, Serena is special. She’s a witch.
Well, actually, since she’s not an adult witch yet, she’s actually called a twitch. And there’s this thing called the Council. And they want to take her away from here and they’re bad, evil in fact, and she doesn’t want to go. They could hurt her. And the thing about that is…well, I love her. I love her and I want to be with her, I’m supposed to be with her, I think it’s my destiny or something like that and because of that they kind of want to hurt me too. And I know all this sounds crazy, but I swear to you I’m not crazy, I’m just in love with a witch, that’s all.”
It all came out in a rush, and I didn’t even stop to breathe. I peeked over at my mom to see how this was being absorbed. I expected to find her eyes bugged out of her head or maybe catch her crying or something. I didn’t expect her to be sitting there so calm. I also didn’t expect to feel so relieved after I let all those words spill out of my mouth like a water faucet that someone left on by accident, just running unchecked. I guess I had been keeping the secret so long, it felt cathartic to finally tell someone.
“I know already, Logan.” My mom soothed. “I know almost everything. Elizabeth is here.”
“Elizabeth is here?” In our house? I twisted around in my seat. We had left Elizabeth at the gym, which, when I last peeked over my shoulder at it, had black cats, and demon rats, and screaming kids running all over the place. I suddenly had a keen interest in how she had cleaned up all that . And what had happened to Natalie. And what might happen Monday morning at school.
Elizabeth must have jumped my thoughts -‐- it would be fun to know how to do that – because she came around the corner just then. “Hi Logan. How are you doing?” She said it tenderly, like a sister would ask a brother. I guess that meant I was becoming part of the family.
“I’m okay. As well as can be expected.”
“I suppose so.” She moved around the kitchen table and went to the counter. I watched as she took a mug from the cupboard and poured herself coffee from the carafe. She moved with a familiarity that made me realize she had been here before.
More than once, it seemed. She took a seat next to my mother and they both regarded me coolly.
“Yes, Logan, I have been here before.” She answered my unspoken question. “As you and Serena got, well, closer to one another, it appeared your mother and I had much to discuss.” She considered my mother, who nodded her approval. “I think I’ll let Lily take over from here.” My mom moved closer to me.
“Logan, Serena and I have something more in common than just you, son. I never meant to keep this from you this long. But then your father died, and I just didn’t know how to tell you.” She dropped her hands down in her lap and just stared at them.
Elizabeth placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to give her strength to continue. Finally, she did. When she lifted up her face, I noticed tears streaming down her face.
****
Seeing my mom cry shocked me. She cried that time she lost her wedding ring. The only time before that happened at the funeral itself. I remembered that now. They made it a closed casket because I overheard the funeral director saying that Dad’s body had been so mangled in the car wreck that he couldn’t work his usual tricks with the makeup and stuff. He called my mom and told her over the phone that an open casket “wasn’t possible.” I watched her take that call. She had just nodded numbly and handed the phone to my Aunt Janice, my Dad’s older sister. She listened for a minute and the blood drained from her face. She hung up without a word. The day of the funeral service they had to practically hold my mom up as we walked to our seats at the front of the church. She couldn’t
“In theory.”
“Okay, in theory. I’ll go with that. Okay.” I took a deep breath and just went for it. “Mom, Serena is special. She’s a witch.
Well, actually, since she’s not an adult witch yet, she’s actually called a twitch. And there’s this thing called the Council. And they want to take her away from here and they’re bad, evil in fact, and she doesn’t want to go. They could hurt her. And the thing about that is…well, I love her. I love her and I want to be with her, I’m supposed to be with her, I think it’s my destiny or something like that and because of that they kind of want to hurt me too. And I know all this sounds crazy, but I swear to you I’m not crazy, I’m just in love with a witch, that’s all.”
It all came out in a rush, and I didn’t even stop to breathe. I peeked over at my mom to see how this was being absorbed. I expected to find her eyes bugged out of her head or maybe catch her crying or something. I didn’t expect her to be sitting there so calm. I also didn’t expect to feel so relieved after I let all those words spill out of my mouth like a water faucet that someone left on by accident, just running unchecked. I guess I had been keeping the secret so long, it felt cathartic to finally tell someone.
“I know already, Logan.” My mom soothed. “I know almost everything. Elizabeth is here.”
“Elizabeth is here?” In our house? I twisted around in my seat. We had left Elizabeth at the gym, which, when I last peeked over my shoulder at it, had black cats, and demon rats, and screaming kids running all over the place. I suddenly had a keen interest in how she had cleaned up all that . And what had happened to Natalie. And what might happen Monday morning at school.
Elizabeth must have jumped my thoughts -‐- it would be fun to know how to do that – because she came around the corner just then. “Hi Logan. How are you doing?” She said it tenderly, like a sister would ask a brother. I guess that meant I was becoming part of the family.
“I’m okay. As well as can be expected.”
“I suppose so.” She moved around the kitchen table and went to the counter. I watched as she took a mug from the cupboard and poured herself coffee from the carafe. She moved with a familiarity that made me realize she had been here before.
More than once, it seemed. She took a seat next to my mother and they both regarded me coolly.
“Yes, Logan, I have been here before.” She answered my unspoken question. “As you and Serena got, well, closer to one another, it appeared your mother and I had much to discuss.” She considered my mother, who nodded her approval. “I think I’ll let Lily take over from here.” My mom moved closer to me.
“Logan, Serena and I have something more in common than just you, son. I never meant to keep this from you this long. But then your father died, and I just didn’t know how to tell you.” She dropped her hands down in her lap and just stared at them.
Elizabeth placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to give her strength to continue. Finally, she did. When she lifted up her face, I noticed tears streaming down her face.
****
Seeing my mom cry shocked me. She cried that time she lost her wedding ring. The only time before that happened at the funeral itself. I remembered that now. They made it a closed casket because I overheard the funeral director saying that Dad’s body had been so mangled in the car wreck that he couldn’t work his usual tricks with the makeup and stuff. He called my mom and told her over the phone that an open casket “wasn’t possible.” I watched her take that call. She had just nodded numbly and handed the phone to my Aunt Janice, my Dad’s older sister. She listened for a minute and the blood drained from her face. She hung up without a word. The day of the funeral service they had to practically hold my mom up as we walked to our seats at the front of the church. She couldn’t
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